it is wednesday, september 9th. 9/9/09. the faces of those driving the headlines. president obama a crucial address to congress and the american people tonight. can he save the overhaul treatm. dr. sanjay gupta reports from a war zone hospital and melanie oudin, cinderella on the

court. the biggest imagine of her young tennis career comes tonight at the u.s. open. good morning. i'm tony harris. you're in the cnn "newsroom." we quickly get you caught up on the hot head looinlines and down the issues on why they matter. leading this hour a critical speech on health care. president obama travels from the white house to capitol hill this evening in hopes of resuscita resuscitating his plans for health care reform. aides say the president will spell out what he wants in the legislation. live reports from suzanne malveaux and brianna keilar just ahead. police say a bone fragment found near the home of sex offender phillip garrido is probably human. investigators dug it up near the yard where jaycee dugard was

held captive for 18 years. california officials are conducting more dna tests on the bone they need to determine if the man accused of kidnapping and raping dugard is guilty of committing other crimes. larry king spoke to judge judy about the case. >> the thing that should outrage people is that he was out of prison. the safety of the community is our primary responsibility. >> garrido and his wife, nancy, have pleaded not guilty to rape and kidnapping charges. live pictures of a memorial service under way for broadcasting legend walter cronkite who died in july. president obama among the dignitaries paying tribute at george lincoln at this hour. former chairman of cbs news speaking right now. we'll bring you the president's remarks live. cronkite anchored the cbs

evening news and was known as the most trusted name in america. let's now focus on the critical issue of health care reform. a house democrat says tonight could be a game changer. one analyst says it may be the toughest speech president obama has faced. the president goes before a joint session of congress tonight trying to revive a health care reform effort that is in some quarters on life support. suzanne malveaux and congressional correspondent brianna keilar beginning our live coverage this hour. brianna, an important meeting on health care is either under way or about to get under way. what can you tell us about it? >> reporter: senate finance committee chairman max baucus a democrat, right now meeting with all of the democrats on this committee. as you know, tony, he's been talking for months with a smaller group from this committee a bipartisan group that we've begun calling the

gang of six working to find bipartisan agreement on a health care overhaul and this is senator kent conrad who is there at the stakeout as we speak. not sure what he's saying at this point but really anything that's coming out of this room and out of this gang of six, tony, is certainly news making. do you want to listen to some of that. >> i echo your point. let's listen in. >> the president's job is to push because work expands to fill the time. if he doesn't push, things tend to drift. this idea that there's a drop dead day or hour is an absolutely counterproductive to doing something that is critically important. >> we got to go. >> all right. brianna, what we heard there was interesting.

this idea that there is some drop dead time date for getting the negotiations wrapped up was interesting because we know that the chairman of the senate finance committee, max baucus, wants some kind of an agreement on a proposal that he had a couple days ago at some point today. >> reporter: sources told us that's the case. senator chuck grassley said this was the goal of senator baucus. some sources have told us that senator baucus was ready to cut bait if he wasn't going to go fishing today. if there wouldn't be a bipartisan agreement. that was senator kent conrad also a democrat. he said all along do not rush us. i have to say much to the chagrin of some of the democratic leaders. he's been pushing back on any deadline. he's saying, we don't have to get this done before president obama's speech tonight and it's counterproductive for there to be suggestions that we do.

what are they talking about in this meeting? a source familiar with these discussions tells us senator baucus will be telling these democrats about the proposal that he gave this gang of six and this bipartisan group. he's going to talk about the offer that he made and talk to them about how he'll be moving forward and is he going to talk about some of this proposed changes coming from republicans and also democrats? there was a deadline for 10:00 a.m. this morning for that as you know. we're not sure he'll talk about that during this meeting but there's another one this afternoon we'll be watching at 3:30 p.m. where he reconvenes with that gang of six. >> suzanne, hang on for a second. i'm getting word that we have some sound in we want to play for everyone from house minority leader john boehner and then, brianna, if you would, react to this. >> we k the president to the capitol tonight and hearing what

he has to say. the question that i have is has the president been listening to the american people? i think the american people have made it pretty clear that they don't really want another lecture. they want a new plan. >> all right. and let's do this, suzanne, give us a sense of the tone and substance of what we're likely to hear from the president tonight. >> reporter: well, i had a chance to speak with robert gibbs this morning and essentially this is going to be a real aggressive case that the president is going to make and make a number of points partly for republicans as well as democrats. a lot of what he's going to talk about is this public option. this government alternative to private insurance companies and explain it in a way that people understand and get it. he's going to talk about that if you are a small business owner and you're going to try to get insurance for yourself and your family, there may be situations where you are rejected by a private insurance company. you would have this public option to turn to. now, there are a lot of people

who are afraid of losing their own insurance so he's also going to say this public option although it is critical to this particular group, mostly doesn't affect a lot of other people. the 180 million people who get their insurance through their employer or people who get it through the va or medicaid and things like that. he's going to spell it out so that white house aides say it's not like the boogie man and this idea of a public option. that's really to help some of these democrats and the liberals come along. he's also going to offer something to the republicans. that's medical malpractice reform. the fact that so many doctors say they end up prescribing more procedures and tests and things that aren't necessary because they're worried about being sued and that that cost a lot of money. he's going to say that whole system needs to be reformed. that's a big nod to republicans and doctors who have been ro looking for that kind of nod

from this president. i want you to take a listen. this is robert gibbs earlier today on whether or not the president is going to draw a line in the sand. >> i don't think the president will get into outlining a series of veto threats. i think what the president will do is put forth his ideas for health care reform and bring democrats and republicans together to get something done this year. >> reporter: the president is still open for negotiations. he has been on the phone. brianna said senator max baucus who is critical to that gang of six, he talked to max baucus yesterday and he'll be on the phone again with him today. he's still open to ideas. he's trying to show the american people he's got specific ideas but he also still wants to try to see if they can work this out amongst them. i asked about a timetable. robert gibbs said until the end of the year he's hoping for some kind of health care reform legislation. he's not writing his own legislation. i asked gibbs about that. he said i won't send up 1400

pages to the congress. we want them to try to work this out and take the best ideas from the president as well as congress. >> that's terrific. we'll get another opportunity to talk later this hour or next hour. brianna keilar and suzanne malveaux. appreciate it. thank you. we invite you to join the conversation as well on our blog. what do you want to hear from the president tonight when he goes before a joint session of congress to talk about his health plan? once again. here's the address. cnn.com/tony. and of course we'll bring you the president's prime time speech on health care reform live. again, his address before the joint session of congress begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern with the best political team right here on cnn. more and more of you are filing sadly for bankruptcy. personal finance editor gerri willis is in the house to talk about that. first, let's look at the numbers on wall street. dow up for most of the morning and up at this moment.

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taking you quickly now to new york city and the memorial service under way for broadcasting news legend walter cronkite. nick clooney was a superstar news maker in the cincinnati market. nick clooney remembering his friend, walter cronkite. we're waiting for the remarks from president barack obama. when those begin, we'll take you back to new york. bankruptcy filings are surging this year closing in on the 1 million mark. it's just september. personal finance editor gerri willis is here. you told us how many months now to keep an eye on this number. it's going to be big.

we are here at a million in september. what states hit the hardest? >> they're up 22%. that's a huge number. let's drill down and look at the states with the highest filings. nevada is huge. it's the foreclosure problem that's really driving these bankruptcies. you lose your home. you probably lost your job. it's just a swirl of problems. tennessee, georgia, indiana. these are filings per 1,000 people. they basically get rid of the idea of your large state with a large population with a lot of bankruptcies otherwise california would lead that list. a lot of people out there suffering. those bankruptcies starting to back to the levels of when bankruptcy law made it easier to file bankruptcy so we're seeing really coming up. >> what is it that people should consider before filing for bankruptcy? this is huge here. >> there are consequences. big-time consequences. for example, obviously it is on your credit record for 7 to 10 years. it's obviously a big black mark

on your credit score. it hurts you when you go to look for a job. if you have a job that requires a high level of security, you could be in big trouble and you still have to make payments on your mortgage or your car loan in most cases. there are big-time consequences that follow you and dogs you for a really long time. >> and how do you know if you really should consider this option of bankruptcy? how do you know? >> well, okay, i'll give you a rule of thumb. people like that. if you wonder should i file today? if you have more debt than it would take you to pay off in five years, then you should be thinking about bankruptcy. this should be a last resort. this is not the first thing you want to do. remember, there are some debts that are excluded from bankruptcy so if you have student loans or paying marital support, those things you are still going to have to pay and if you have investments of any sort, cds, stocks, mute ual fun,

those are available to creditors to pay off debt. i really think the take away here is if you are in trouble right now, if you really are worried and you think you might have to go into bankruptcy, get a credit counselor first. try to work out your debts. you can always call your creditors and say i really want to work out a plan here. try to pay down this debt. instead of going all of the way to bankruptcy because that follows you for five to ten years. >> give everyone the address again if they want to send you e-mail questions. >> gerry@cnn.com. send us e-mails. we love to answer your questions every friday right here with tony. >> cool to have you back in atlanta. i know you're working on something huge that you can't tell us about. >> i'm telling you anything off the record again. >> i work in front of a camera. on friday, more of your exclusive interview with elmo. right here. >> very excited.

>> in the cnn "newsroom." >> i'm telling you, fantastic. >> can't wait. >> what a news source. >> i can't wait. thanks. appreciate it. other news we're following, u.s. marshals preparing bernard madoff's boats and homes in florida and manhattan for sale. cnnmoney takes a tour of the properties and the boat with an elevator you can see it all at cnn.com. tom brokaw speaking now at the memorial service for walter cronkite. let's listen in for a bit of the flavor of tom brokaw's remarks. >> i was personally a witness to that as a teenager in the remote reaches the great plains and i didn't see television until i was 15 years old and it was a small black and white set in the corner of our dining room. it changed my life. because in many ways walter cronkite and all of those early pioneers lifted a lamp and

showed us a wider world and allowed us to understand it more clearly and coherently and in some cases to leave those places and to come here. in the past several weeks there have been so many testimonials to walter's career, his love of the sea and sailing, his enthusiasm for being walter cronkite and for having the good life that he earned and so richly deserved. there's little that i can add to all of that. instead today i would like to remember another character of this man who was born in missouri, educated in texas, to lived in the world and grew up to be the most trusted man in america by a vote of his countrymen. i would like to commemorate his capacity for friendship that transcended cultures, generations, and yes, even competitive lines.

we're witness to that in this remarkable gathering today in this room and across the country of course. not just in the famous faces and the big names, to the end of his life walter also had time for a call or even lunch with foot soldiers of cbs news who are long removed from his daily needs. and of course there were those legendary friendships that went beyond the work day. his university of texas classmate, the great actor here with us today. [ applause ] my colleague and late friend -- >> why don't we do this. we want to squeeze in a little bit more of the day's news ahead of the remarks of this memorial service from president obama. we'll break away for now to look

at andy rooney there now. we'll break away for a few moments and get you back to the memorial service for walter cronkite when president obama begins his remarks. maybe we can sneak in a couple top stories for you. the supreme court right now is rehearing what may turn out to be landmark case on campaign finance law specifically whether to ease restrictions on the ways corporations and unions spend money to sway voters. the case centers on a 90-minute film about then presidential candidate hillary clinton. i told you you need to watch this program every day because i told you a week ago to keep this young woman on your radar and now melanie oudin is moving to prime time. our larry smith joins us with more on this rising tennis sensation. there he is. we're back in a moment.

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a feisty teen taking the tennis world by storm at just the right moment. think about it. u.s. open, september, new york, melanie oudin is the one to watch. and this is coming from a man who loves roger federer. yeah, yeah. the 17-year-old georgia girl takes center stage tonight at the open. this evening. can you imagine? she plays for a spot in the semifinals. larry smith spoke to oudin before she headed to the u.s. open. take a look. >> reporter: serena and venus williams may be the world's most famous tennis players but oudin has been all of the buzz.

by the seventh grade, she decided to become homeschooled. >> it was to play more and not get in trouble for missing so many days of school because of tournaments because i wasn't allowed to. the amount of improvement that i got in that first year homeschooling was unbelievable. >> reporter: oudin's focus on tennis improved her game but didn't come without sacrifice like any teenager would, melanie misses hanging out with her friends and the bond she shared with her twin sister. >> we've always been close since we were little but now we definitely drifted a bit apart from each other just because i'm gone a lot and then she's got different friends than i do and different interests and stuff. we're both happy for each other. >> reporter: oudin turned pro last year and received her first taste of fame two months ago after reaching the fourth round at wimbledon. that pales in comparison to what she's experiencing now.

on monday at the racket club where oudin trains, melanie's friends and fans watched her become the youngest american to advance to the u.s. open finals since serena williams in 1999. >> she's as nice as she can be. she's the best sport and she's a champion. >> such a close match. every time she pulls it off. it's great. you see her here every day dedicated working out. >> reporter: with the rating on the rise, her coach of eight years is intent on keeping her humble. >> this weekend we were laying sod and doing yard work. i make her do everything the other kids do. she's no premadonna. she understands this is your club, help make it look good. >> reporter: if she wins the u.s. open, heshe's hoping the coach will let her enjoy one of her favorite things. >> i enjoy ice cream on my off-season. >> reporter: how many more days until you can get into that?

>> if i win the open i'm sure my coach will let me have an ice cream. >> she cannot be that sweet. you've said it five different times here. she is that sweet. >> she's a great kid. we spent two hours with her and her coach and her practice partners. she's a fantastic young lady. here's the thing you have to understand. her coach i asked him why don't we see more american tennis players atop the rankings. he said quite frankly kids in this society don't want to put the work in. kids in eastern europe, they have tennis, that's all they have. here if it doesn't work out, okay. i'll go to college. >> we'll go play soccer or something else. >> she has the work ethic. this is my job. i'm on the court four hours a day and another hour on top of that working out. very dedicated. >> i'm going to go long on the segment telling you that ahead of time.

stay with me. all right. this is another sweet kid that she's playing who was pulled to victory by the crowd. tell me how this stage is set for oudin, ash stadium, prime time with -- this is a huge moment. do you think she's up for this moment tonight? >> what she's done so far there's no question. she doesn't beat people with overpowering game and aces. it's footwork. it's technique. hard work. there's a reason she can win this. can she beat one of the williams sisters? i wouldn't go that far. she can win tonight and got semifinals. >> you think she can win tonight. on the other side she has to get through the semi. do you see her making the final? we want to wave this flag. we want to continue to love this kid up. >> this is the thing. this is the greatest story we've seen generals jennifer capriati.

and even back further. you talk about that in terms of that's why the country jumped on and jumped behind her. she told me three weeks ago i'm going to the open as an underdog. she's been up to the task. this is why this is so exciting is because it's in new york and right here in our own country and one of our own players making this kind of cinderella story. if you work hard, dreams come true. >> are you trying to get up there? >> i will be in new york at her practice facility watching it. >> good to see you. got to go. i'm in trouble. president obama goes to capitol hill tonight to make a prime time pitch for health care reform. it's your fault, larry. we're asking what do you want to hear? send us your comments to our blog, cnn.com. we're back in a moment. (announcer) neutroténa tone correcting night serum

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health care. tonight president obama will press congress to act on health care insurance reform. the speech is expected to run 30

minutes in length. a key player in the debate, senator max baucus is huddling with democrats right now trying to come up with a compromise bill that will pass in the senate. 2008 vice presidential candidate sarah palin popularized the phrase death panel despite criticism she's sticking to it. palin writes a blistering assessment of democrats health care reform plans in today's "wall street journal." palin says -- after an angry august, president obama will try to recapture the forum on health care debate tonight. let's go to arlington, virginia, and jessica yellin is in new

york. thanks for the time. let's get at it. public option. or no public option. that seems to be the question right now. what do you think the president will say when he gets to that portion of the speech tonight? >> white house sources are essentially saying he'll come out strong for the public option but he's not going to draw a line in the sand and say that it is a deal breaker. what we're seeing is the support but also wiggle room because reaction is public option probably cannot get out of the senate. again, he'll signal to progressives that he's for the public option but not a deal breaker. >> and jessica yellin, i'll come to you for a moment with your thoughts on that. but this is your colleague just yesterday on this program talking about the public option. >> there's not going to be a public option in this bill. there are not the votes in the house and senate to get it

through. the president knows it. >> all right. jessica, you heard it from jim those comments yesterday. you heard the same thing from nia a moment ago. what's your analysis on where we are? >> i agree with jim that there's not going to be a public option in the senate version of this bill and that the president will be very clear that he likes it in theory but it will be a clear indication he can live with a bill that doesn't have it. i'm going to break with conventional wisdom and say that i don't think this is all about the public option. i think the most important thing that we have to listen for from the president tonight is how specific he gets about what he wants in this bill. he's acknowledged today in an interview that he tonight needs to be clear about what he stands for. what we have to test for is how much is rhetoric and how much is very specific guidance to congress about how they should move forward. >> was he too ambiguous? >> as jessica said, he himself admitted that in the interview this morning.

he was too ambiguous. you saw in august the debate got away from him. it was essentially really dictated by the republicans their talking points death panels or pulling the plug on grandma, we try to get specific tonight. the question i think really is how much staying power do speeches actually have. you might be able to move the needle a little bit but how much is that going to stay? he'll go to a rally this saturday to keep the momentum going but the question going forward is how much staying power speeches can have in this divisive environment. >> if the president surprises us and if he came out very clear with specifics, he really could pro tensi potentially change the debate. he could have staying power. if this speech is rhetoric and talk about why we need health care reform without specifics on how to get it done, this just becomes another speech.

>> wait a minute. wait a minute. we've been talking about this for months now. what specifics can the president come forward with tonight that we haven't talked about? what is he going say? you take that one first. >> one thing he'll give an olive branch to republicans and talk about medical malpractice and that needing reform. he'll make it clear that the public option isn't some sort of boogie man and something that everyone will have to go on. it will be for a small segment of a population is there a public option or even a co-op plan which is what the language in this max baucus bill is. those are specifics he'll get down to. a general lowering of the rhetoric. also, just really kind of trying to find a center because all of these debates so far have been really dictated by the far left and far right so he'll look for a real happy medium here in his language tonight. >> last word to you on this, jess. >> democrats will agree even those all over the map that 80%

of health care reform is agreed to. people think you need to cover more unsure insured and insuran reform is necessary. the big debate is where to pay for it. that's where we should listen to the president. does he talk about how to pay for this and how clear does he get on it? >> thank you as well. we invite you to join the conversation on our blog. what do you want to hear from the president tonight when he goes before a joint session of congress and talks about health care reform. go to cnn.com/tony. let's look ahead to our cnn prime time lineup. the president's address to giant session of congress live at 8:00 p.m. eastern. at 9:00 a special reaction from "larry king live" and then anderson cooper live from the battle zone in afghanistan.

2700 responses to our blog all about the president's speech yesterday to school kids. what are folks saying? >> we've been hearing a lot actually from parents and students on this issue really a touch stone issue in the last few days. let's start with images taken by a senior at mchenry high school in illinois. she was outside the school protesting yesterday along with dozens of fellow students who were upset that their school was not showing the speech. many of these students watched from their laptops. we contacted stephanie's mother and she said she's proud of her daughter for standing up for what she believes in and thinks the seniors there should have been allowed to watch since most of them will be of voting age soon. another perspective from a mother in south carolina who says she rarely agrees with president obama but as a parent and citizen respects his role as

commander in chief. candice let her high school freshman twins read the transcript at breakfast and then decide for themselves yesterday whether to watch at school. republ rebecca watched and alex opted not to. melissa from yorba linda, california, did watch the president's speech with her kids. this is her kids right here. the speech was not aired at school. she dvr'd it and played it after school. listen to the fifth grader response to the speech. >> i like the last line. don't let your country down. don't let your parents down and most importantly don't let you yourself down. >> and one more to share with you. this from a 16 year old. his name is alex.

a junior in massachusetts. he says the school did not play the speech but some of his teachers actually encouraged students to go home and watch it and make up their own minds and that's what alex did and offered up these thoughts. let's watch. >> some of the things he said about responsibility, working hard are things that people like me who is a junior will have to develop those because when i go off to college, my parents won't thereby anymore no matter how much the government does providing us with supplies or paying teachers better or even my parents encouraging us, it is really up to us and time to take grasp of my own future. >> there you have it. good sampling of what everyone is talking about. big thank you to everyone weighing in on this topic. go to ireport.com and share your story. >> your money, your job, your credit. the cnn money time joining me next to count the change.

checking our top stories right now with a "the new york times" report who was taken hostage in afghanistan over the weekend was freed in a raid by british commandos but his afghan

translator and one of the commandos were killed. live pictures now from the memorial in new york for walter cronkite. it looks like a taped piece now from andy rooney. maybe we should listen to a bit of this. this could be pretty special. >> walter joined cbs in 1950 recruited by edward. i went to work for cbs in 1948 writing for arthur godfrey. walter left the evening noews i 1981 when he was 64 years old. that was the start of his most famous years. two or three nights a week, 51 weeks a year, one organization after another would present walter with some kind of an award or honor. one of the best things about giving walter an award was that he always liked it. he was genuinely appreciative when someone gave him something. walter was one of the few people i had ever known who had worn

out three tuxedos getting an award. he would have loved to be here now to hear us say good things about him. walter wasn't just someone i knew casually. when i was suspended from cbs many years ago for some inappropriate remarks i made, walter called me that day and said, i would like to use whatever residual good will i have with the american people by being seen at dinner with you tonight. i saw walter all the time of course. he joined me for instance in 1976 at a restaurant for a documentary i was doing for cbs about eating out in america. i named it mr. rooney goes to dinner. >> i ate at the copenhagen one day with a friend. he's an expert. >> andy rooney in a prerecorded taped piece that's being played right now at the memorial service in new york for

broadcast legend walter cronkite who died in july at the age of 92. still to come in the "newsroom," an army reservist and surgeon has more work than he can handle. >> you just don't ever see yourself after all of these years of education sitting in the middle of a desert trying to scrape dead tissue off a child. that was probably the worst day. >> our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta goes into the operating room in afghanistan. so she can watch me cook. you just love the aromas of beef tenderloin... and, ooh, rotisserie chicken. yes, you do. [ barks ] yeah. you're so special, you deserve a very special dog food. [ woman ] introducing chef michael's canine creations. the deliciously different way to serve up your love at mealtime. chef-inspired. dog-desired. chef michael's canine creations.

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okay. let's get to some business nis now, as the recession wears on americans all across the country, are putting the plastic away. a new survey from the federal reserve shows fewer americans are living on credit these days. got thumbs-up here. susan lisovicz, but i know

there's an impact on the market. the broader markets and the economy. susan lisovicz is at the new york stock exchange with details, because, susan, i know consumers have to spend, that's a big component of the overall economy. >> it's really a critical element in the pace of recovery. >> yeah. >> so, if we're not spending, we're probably going to be -- recovery's going to be a lot slower. >> yep. >> all right, so let's talk about borrowing. we borrowed $2.5 trillion in july. huge number, 12 zeros, but guess what, tony, it's down $21 billion from the month before, that's the biggest drop on record, according to the federal reserve. why is that? well, because we used to be spending beyond our means. we're now saving. >> yes. >> 2005 been burned. that's one element. the other element, money's not that easy to get anymore, right? >> right. >> so many of us find that we can't get the loan that we wanted to, or that our credit limits have been lowered.

it all comes around to, once again, economic recovery. you know, both forces are at work, and the pace of recovery will certainly be impacted by it. one thing that we are definitely buying today, tony, stocks. the dow and the nasdaq, the s&p 500 all higher for the fourth day in a row. >> boy, i love you down there on the floor of the stock exchange with all the lights and the bells and the whistles. it's just terrific. see you next hour, susan. thank you. >> you got it. make-or-break day for health care. before president obama delivers a big speech to the joint session of congress, we are talking to our own panel. we're talking about real people who have been affected by our current system. what they like, what they don't, and what they think about reform. that's next hour. and did you know the health care be date is already congress' most expensive ever? our josh levs breaks down the costs of lobbying for reform. you can make it in just 14 minutes mmmh, orange chicken. great. i didn't feel like going out anyway (announcer) wanchai ferry. restaurant quality chinese in your grocer's freezer

hospital short staffed, the number of war-related injuries in afghanistan is steadily rising. our dr. sanjay gupta went on assignment with a vascular surgeon, who truly knows the meaning of sacrifice. >> one, two, three. oh, that's a mess. okay. >> reporter: u.s. army major augustus brown is the only vascular surgeon for the entire country for afghanistan. >> probably an anti-personnel mine he stepped on, and basically it amputated his legs. his feet were gone, and we completed the amputations. >> reporter: brown is 43 years old, and he's a long way from home. the same hometown as mine, which makes this all the more personal. this place has been attacked. you're risking your life to save others. >> the deal was when he need you, for whatever they need you,

go. that's it. >> reporter: the "go" call came january 29th, and there's been no rest for this battlefield surgeon. we're here in one of the trauma bays at the three hospital. it's an unusually quiet moment, but i want to give you an idea of the numbers here which give you a reflection of what's happening in kandahar, what's happening in afghanistan. they see mainly traumatic patients and august it's roughly 230 patients a month and they think by fall the numbers will increase even more. u.s. troops, coalition forces, locals, dr. brown treats them all. now, they asked me to help out. they needed four surgeons, they only have three. this is what happens when you have a hospital as busy as this one. one of your children were deployed while you're here? >> that's true. >> reporter: how do you deal with that? >> it is a sacrifice for my family, but it's a privilege, even when i'm back in atlanta and they ask, what do i enjoy

most about service? it's the most fun i ever have is when i'm at work. >> reporter: when you had to say good-bye to your wife and your many kids -- >> yes. >> reporter: -- you have lots of kids, just like i do, tell me about that conversation. >> it was hardest for my son. and the oldest is 6 years old. that's always hard. there's no -- there's no silver lining with that. he gave me a good luck charm. it's a little stuffed dog. it's in my uniform in the back. i always go with it. the promise was as long as i keep it on me, i'd be safe. >> reporter: in talking to major brown, i realize, there is a fear of death, but he never lets it steal his thoughts. he finds, though, there are some images he can't shut. some that haunt him. like this burned child. her only pain relief, a package of candy. >> you just don't ever see yourself, after all those years

of education, sitting in the middle of a desert, trying to scrape dead tissue off a child. that was probably the worst day. and they all lived. all of them. and they all got better. but i think maybe 20 years down the road, when everything settles down, if i could come back and see one of them alive, grown up, and you feel like it was worth it. >> reporter: now, one thing worth pointing out about dr. brown is that he is a reservist. most reservists stay in theater about three months and then are asked if they would like to stay longer. he was asked that question, and he has chosen to stay a year. i want to show you something that boosted the morale here. take a look at this. that is malik. he's starting to move the left side of his body. there was a lot of concern he might not survive and if he did, he would be paralyzed on the

left side. he's improving significant throughout the day, and we'll continue to have updates with him all week long. back to you. >> sanjay, appreciate it. thank you. our anderson cooper takes live to the battle zone. don't miss the special "ac360" at 10:00 eastern tonight. it is time for your midday reset! i am tony harris in the "cnn newsroom." high noon in washington. where president obama will try to rescue health care reform tonight. a prime-time address to congress and the nation. it is noon at new york's lincoln center, where dignitaries and journalists are paying tribute to the most trusted man in america, walter cronkite. and it is 12:00 at the united states supreme court, where justices reconsider a case today that could be a game-changer for political candidates. let's get started. a make-or-break moment, a critical speech, whatever you want to call it, the stakes are high, as president obama goes before congress and the country tonight to try to revive health care reform. we get a bit of a preview from

white house press secretary, robert gibbs. >> he will outline some very specific ideas that i think will leave people with a couple of thoughts when they walk away from the speech. one, they'll know that this plan provides safety, security, and stability to the millions of people that have health insurance each and every day, but are watching their premiums skyrocket and double every few years. secondly, for those that don't have health insurance, but need affordable coverage, he'll lay out a plan for how people can get that as well. he'll talk about the crippling costs of health care on government, and why we just can't afford to wait any longer. we have to act now. and while the clock is ticking toward the president's prime-time speech, the so-called gang of six senators on the finance committee is still searching for a bipartisan compromise. >> we've never had a specific deadline. our position has always been the most important thing is to get things right. rather than some arbitrary deadline.

but i do think we very much want to reach conclusion, and we're getting close. we will break down this story in just a couple of moments. a scathing documentary about hillary clinton is getting supreme court attention today. justices are rehearing what may turn out to be a landmark case on campaign finance laws. specifically, whether to ease restrictions on the ways corporations spend money and sway voters. the case centers on television commercials promoting a 90-minute film about then-presidential candidate hillary clinton. lower courts ruled it violated campaign finance laws. the opposition argues it violates the first amendment. this was the first appearance on the bench for new associate justice sonia sotomayor. she dove right into the questioning. all right, walter cronkite is being remembered at a memorial service right now. president obama and former president bill clinton among the dignitaries paying tribute at

the ceremony in new york's lincoln center. we will bring you the president's remarks live. earlier we brought you the tribute from former president clinton. >> that he had the most trusted news program because he had an enquiring mind and a caring heart and a careful devotion to the facts and because you really sensed that in the words of his own autobiography, he had a deep aversion to group conformity. he was always looking for the story, not the story line. and there's a big difference. >> walter cronkite died in july. he was 92. president obama goes before the cameras tonight, but talks are going on behind closed doors right now on health care reform. can't wait for this conversation. senior congressional correspondent, dana bash, staking out the meeting on capitol hill. dana, tell us where you are, and we understand we might be

getting some news this hour. fill us in. >> reporter: that's right. cnn has learned that we expect a significant announcement from the senate finance chairman, max baucus, about how and when he intends to move forward on his health care plan. in what is perhaps the most important committee when it comes to the president getting what he wants, which is a health care reform proposal. now, you probably see a group of people behind me. this is a meeting going on in max baucus' office. it's with democrats on the finance committee. they're just going over the proposal that we talked about yesterday that he put forward for the bipartisan negotiators. now, what we know from max baucus yesterday is that he made very clear to those other five senators, the six senators total, who have been negotiating for months in a bipartisan basis, that time is running out, and it is almost up, and that he's going to have to move forward at some point. so, we expect, probably in the next 15 to 20 minutes, if all goes as planned, tony, to hear exactly what max baucus' plan is with regard to the timeline and

his health care plan. >> a couple of things jump out at me immediately. we just played a sound bite moments ago from democratic senator saying there is no timeline, and it's clear from your reporting that max baucus wants some movement here. walk us through the push/pull here. >> reporter: it is a push/pull. look, senator conrad, who is actually inside that group of reporters behind me, talking to them, he is somebody who has said forever don't rush us. >> yes. >> reporter: and frankly that has been much to the chagrin of the white house and the democratic leadership. it had been the feeling of all of the senators, because they felt they were making some significant progress in a bipartisan way for months towards getting a bipartisan health plan. however, look, to quote max baucus, the rubber has hit the road now. >> yes. >> reporter: and he has gotten so much pressure from the white house and the democratic leadership that time is up, and

the speech tonight is certainly an indicator and another deadline that he's going to have to make a decision on when to move forward, and that's the reason why we're going to hear it. >> that gaggle is starting to break up a bit. i want to ask you one more question. do we know whether or not, the suggestions, the recommendations, from republican chuck grassley, are being considered right now in that meeting? >> reporter: not in this meeting in particular. this is a meeting just among the democrats on the senate finance committee. however, you raise an important point. what senator baucus did announce yesterday is that he wanted all of the other five senators who have been negotiating, that gang of six, to come to him with counterproposals. that did happen this morning. they were due by 10:00 a.m. this morning. that group, that bipartisan group, is going to meet again this afternoon, but before that we are going to get an announcement with max baucus' intentions with regard to republicans and the bipartisan group. whether or not they will move forward -- >> yeah. >> reporter: -- with them or without them. >> that's terrific. all right, our senior congressional correspondent, dana bash, for us. thank you. >> reporter: thank you.

let's talk about plans here. we will bring you president obama's prime-time speech on health care reform live, of course, his address before the joint session of congress begins at 8:00 p.m. with the best political team on television right here on cnn. members of congress and the president trying to work out a health plan. i am going to talk to some of the real people, all of us, who will feel the impact of their decisions. that's coming up next.

okay. nine minutes after the hour. welcome back, everyone, to the

"cnn newsroom." i'm tony harris. if a company spends money on an election campaign, is that considered free speech? the supreme court will decide whether decades of election law are out of date.

president obama preparing to tell congress just what he wants in a health care reform bill, and to tell you what -- delivers a prime-time address before congress tonight. our white house correspondent, suzanne malveaux, is live with a preview. and, suzanne, is the president tonight, what are you hearing, offering something to both democrats and republicans? >> reporter: he really is, tony, at least he is trying to do that. we are told he is still tweaking the speech. obviously he's going to speak at walter cronkite's memorial service. but the speech is not done. it's about 45 minutes without applause. it's expected something for both sides here. even though it is not seen likely that lawmakers will support the public option idea,

the president is still going to push for that, at least in part, during this speech tonight. essentially, he's going to try to make the case here that this is something that is critical, but it's important to a rather specific group of people. this is small business owners, who are seeking insurance for themselves and their families, perhaps rejected by a private insurer, they have to go with the public option, they need some sort of other alternative, competitive alternative. it does not apply to a lot of folks who are nervous about losing their insurance. that's 180 million people who get their insurance through their employer or get their insurance through, say, the va, medicaid, that type of thing. so, he's going to put this into perspective. this is really a nod for the democrats, for the liberal left who have been really pushing for this. whether he gets it, well, that's another story. but he is not going to push forward and draw lines in the sand. i spoke with robert gibbs earlier today, and here's how he put it -- >> the president's going to talk about the public option and talk about the value of bringing

through a public option choice and competition to the private insurance market. i think that's going to be a big part of what the president's talking about. it's not going to be all of what the president talks about, because it's not the totality of health care reform. >> reporter: so another part of this, tony, which he's going to talk about, which is really a nod to the republicans and some doctors that have been involved in the debate is the need for medical malpractice reform. essentially a lot of doctors saying, look, the reason why health care costs are so expensive is because they're practicing what they call defensive medicine. they're worried about being sued. prescribe the tests that aren't necessary, procedures, that sort of thing. there needs to be real reform on that side, and that's a nod to the republicans. and robert gibbs told me this is not a speech where he's necessarily going to threaten to veto anything, he's still going to say he's got some specificed weres about health care reform, but he is also still open -- >> yes. >> reporter: -- to both sides trying to work this thing ouout tony. >> suzanne, no threats from the president tonight, which brings us to the question of tone.

what is the president's tone likely to be? how will that tone be set tonight? >> reporter: well, one of the things we saw dana's report that senator max baucus is going to come out with an announcement. >> yes. >> reporter: the president has been in touch with max baucus. he was on the phone with him yesterday, he will continue to be on the phone in touch with him today. robert gibbs said something quite interesting, which he has -- he's expecting congress, by the end of the year, to come up with something and put it on the table. on the one hand, they're doing some private arm-twisting here. on the other hand, publicly they're saying they're giving themselves a little bit of wiggle room, saying, okay, we still have some months to go. but chief of staff rahm emanuel has been stressing to the democrats in particular, those that are butting heads with each other, look, you're in the majority, you risk losing that majority next year if you don't come up with something. it seems as if they're giving them this timetable here. this speech really meant to try to put some pressure on those democrats to come up with some sort of agreement. >> so much on the line tonight. this is really compelling stuff

at the white house. suzanne malveaux for us, suzanne, appreciate it. thank you. let's do this. let's bring in some of the voices and views on health care reform. people with a stake in what the president says tonight and what happens with the legislation. of course, all of us have a stake in this. on our panel, dr. brian hill a urology specialist of atlanta. brian, good to see you. thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> kathy mcclure, founder of votehealthcare.org which promotes guaranteed affordable health care. kathy, thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> and kristen hawkins, her son was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. she is with us from washington. kristen, good to see you as well. >> thanks for having me. >> doctor, i'm going to ask you a quick question. i understand my mike is dying a bit. so, take your time to answer this, as i switch out, and then i'll be rude and cut in. what do you want to hear from the president tonight on the critical question of a public option? we're talking about a government

health insurance plan. >> well, the thing i want to hear is, i actually want to hear ways that we're going to truly improve this health care system for our patients. and the problem i have with the public option is that we say we practice evidence-based medicine. that means we look at evidence outcomes from research trials to find the best way to treat patients. and we take the research trials and take that data and we apply that to our treatment options. well, if you do the same thing to the public option plan, if you look at prior trials where they've tried a public option, it's failed miserably. if you look at maine, if you look at massachusetts, tennessee, oregon, hawaii, all of these are places where they've tried a public option plan. >> got you. brian, you're not in favor of the public option, correct? >> it's not working. it doesn't -- has not been shown to work. so, why are we voting for it? what we voting for that? >> what do you want to see? >> i think we need to change the dialogue. i think we need to focus on patient-centered health care reform. it doesn't happen by bringing the government in. it doesn't happen by bringing more interns in. it happens by putting the patients at the center. we need to start freeing up, and

we need to start creating more mobility and affordability within our health care. >> brian, forgive me, but what does that mean practically? we have to write a bill here. >> very easily. let's do things that work. let's truly open up interstate commerce. how come my patients can only buy insurance from georgia? why aren't we doing it across the united states? why aren't we changing our tax codes and laws? >> to do what? to do what, to do what? >> why aren't we allowing our companies to buy health insurance in pretax dollars and our people when they don't buy it through the companies have to pay out posttax dollars after that. it's ridiculous. let's add more affordability. i tell people, how great would it be to make it like geico where bluecross and blueshield comes on and said, i've got the best rates on tv. we've got to change it so it's patient center and patient focused. >> let me shut you down. kristen, let me come you to for a second. do you know what, let me go to

kathy, i know you have a different view on this. you heard from dr. hill, the public option, the way we're discussing it now, it doesn't work. what's your view? >> i disagree completely. the public option as it's presented in the bills, the actual bills that are before congress, do something quite different from what dr. hill is advocating. basically, the public option as it's drafted today, would provide an option for small business owners, for un -- for people who are -- who are out there at sea in the private insurance market. >> uh-huh. >> it has nothing to do with the whole question of -- of -- of medicine where you -- evidence-based medicine. it's not based on that at all. >> kathy, let me move you ahead a little bit. because, look, hour your backstory, dr. hill, listen to this as well and kristen as well. you're advocating for your two children who have essentially pre-existing conditions and are essentially at sea here, trying to find affordable health care.

so, pick up your discussion from there. >> sure. >> and then i want you both to talk about this as well. >> yes. so the problem with my kids is they're chronically ill. my son has type i diabetes. it's a disease. it's genetic, it's due to no fault of his own. my daughter has epilepsy, because she was hit in the head with a soccer goal. both of my kids inner early 20s, and both of them are uninsurable in the state of georgia because of their, quote, pre-existing conditions. if there were a public option, they would be able to purchase insurance out there that's affordable for them. and it would provide a guaranteed backup for americans in their shoes -- in their shoes. >> and let me stop you right there. and let me bring in kristen, because kristen, your young son has cystic fibrosis -- >> yes. >> -- and you don't believe that a public health system is a backstop at all for you? >> no. actually, my husband and i started researching what a public government, nationalized

health care system would mean for people like gunner, who have cystic fibrosis, it's a lifelong very expensive disease and it will be fatal for him. what we found is countries that have nationalized health care like great britain, we have a lot of rationing going on in the health care system. in ireland, the survival rate for somebody with cystic fibrosis is ten years younger than it is here today. >> can i stop you for a second? you are making an asuls that's that that's the way you would see that kind of a system, it would work here in the united states. that's the assumption you're making. >> that's exactly what will happen. listen to dr. zeke emanuel, he's on the presidents comparative affectiveness research council. zeke emanuel has said that the doctors take the hippocratic oath too seriously. the cost cutting americaures and doing technology and medical records prevention are really lipstick and are just for show and public relations and he's advocated a system of rationing. >> got you. >> saying people 15 to 40 should get the best care.

it's unbelievable. >> i'll jump in a second, because i don't want to run out of time before i get to the last point that dr. hill would probably agree there's some rationing of care going on right now in the system. all right, but let me move to this. kristen, you don't want -- you don't want -- a public option. dr. hill, you don't want a public option. >> no. >> what makes private insurers more responsible moving forward? stops the practice of dropping people who get sick. you know, charging outrageous rates for people with pre-existing conditions, which -- which is what kathy's point is. >> uh-huh. >> what changes the game for insurers, and i'll give you the last word, doctor, maybe? >> i have a word, also. >> i'll go back to kathy real quick. we've got to fix the health care system and the pre-existing clauses but the public option won't do it. look at massachusetts, the costs in massachusetts have gone up 42% since they bought a public option plan in place in 2006. >> yes, but we're not -- >> introduced competition.

>> the rest of the united states has gone up 18% in that time, so if our goal is to bring down costs, we're failing miserably there. we need to make patients the focus of this. >> guys, stand by. we've got breaking news. stand by, you'll want to hear this. let's get to our senior congressional correspondent, dana bash. dana, what are you learning? >> reporter: well, we reported first at the top of the hour, tony, that max baucus, the senate finance chairman, is going to make a significant announcement in a couple of minutes. we have approval from our sources to tell you what it is. he told a group of democrats on his committee that he is going to say that he intends to move forward with the health care proposal with or without republicans, and his plan is to formally have a bill ready next week and to formally mark it up or bring it before the committee and have it open for amendments the week after that. so, this is -- this is significant, in that this chairman, this senator, max baucus, has been working with a group of six senators, including him, three republicans, three democrats, for months and

months. but as we heard from him yesterday, and we continue to hear from his aides today, he realizes that the pressure is on from the white house to move on. and he's still, i think, is going to say he hopes to get republican support. but he's not banking on it, and he's going to move on with or without them. >> i think the end of that is the important piece here, dana. the -- the -- the chairman has concluded that he can't, after all of this time of working on this, that he does not believe that he can win, even the support of the members who are part of this -- the republican members of the gang of six? >> reporter: he thinks -- he hopes he can. i think that is probably what we are going to hear him emphasize, that he hopes he can get support from them, but he can't bank on it, and that's why he is going to set a timetable for the next couple of weeks. i'm just going to tell you i may have to move out of the way because senators who are in this meeting are coming out. in fact, i see senator rockefeller in the corner and we expect senator max baucus to come stand where i'm standing to make the announcement formal. the reason it's significant we've been standing outside this hallway for a very long time.

>> yeah. >> reporter: and this has been the hope for a bipartisan agreement. it's not over. it's not -- it doesn't mean a bipartisan agreement is dead, but it does mean that the democratic leadership and, most importantly, max baucus understands the time to move forward is now and he's now willing to do it ultimately without republicans. i think you'll probably hear him emphasize that the proposal he has put out and the one he will formally unveil, the legislation next week, is filled with republicans ideas. i think in terms of his rhetoric he's going to talk a lot, still, about consensus and republican help. >> significant, significant developments here. our senior congressional correspondent, dana bash, with us, thank you. let's bring the panel back just enough time to say thank you to dr. brian hill, kristen hawkins and kathy mcclure. thank you. it was spirited. presh quiappreciate it. >> darn. >> darn will have to stand as your final word. appreciate it, thank you all. >> thank you. into still to come in the "newsroom" -- a question for you, how much money is being spent to influence the outcome of the health care debate? uuuuuu

boy, we have been rocking today. chad myers, i was going to ask you if you've had an opportunity to watch, but you've got your hands full over there, with fred. >> hey, tony, we got another category 3 hurricane! >> yeah, a little bit. >> it's like, whoo, let's get these out of the way, don't hit anything, right? >> right. >> fred, a category 3 hurricane. let me open this up and show you what's going on. do we care? a little bit. because it will make some waves out there. but this thing is forecast to turn and have an icy cold death in the cold waters of the north

atlantic. and that's good, because do you know what, you need warm water for a hurricane to grow. that's cold water over there. the hurricane is kaput. some showers across new york city and into philadelphia as well. also a couple of storms developing here across parts of the southeast. there is some significant flooding across parts of southeastern kansas. the water has receded mostly from wichita, from yesterday, which was kind of an ugly couple days for the south and eastern parts of kansas here. one more thing i want to show you. 5,400 airplanes in the sky. good news, tony, they're not that big. because otherwise they'd be bumping into each other. we don't like that. 5,400 planes, and actually, less than 10% have any delay whatsoever. good news. >> outstanding! all right, chad, appreciate it. thank you. >> you got it, tony. i got to tell you, the health care debate is quickly -- quickly -- becoming the most expensive fight to hit congress. hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent so far in the battle. or josh levs is here with details, and that's so far. >> we knew it was big. but this morning you've got to see it from cnnmoney.

because it's even bigger than a lot of us realize. >> show-and-tell, doctor, i can't wait. >> this is what cnnmoney is trumpeting. the most expensive thing to hit congress, or close to it. let's go to the graphic, $375 million has been spent in this battle. you can see the breakdown from center for responsible politics. $280 million in lobbying. then all the tv ads, we've been seeing, $75 million spent on those, paying for all the airtime. and then $23 million for health sector political donations for next year's races. let's break it down, i want you to see the lobbying money on the next screen. check it out, the drug makers and makers of health products have spent $134 million lobbying this year. this is just 2009. in this health care effort. hospital and nursing homes, $50 million. health professionals, $39 million. >> oh, my goodness, look at this money! >> you know, the insurers, the

people hear about lobbying, and the insurers not one of the biggest in this respect. still, $16 million, spent on lobbying in order to try to push what is seen as their agenda here in this respect. so, tony, we're talking about a massive sum of money. more details, cnnmoney.com/health care. >> we wonder why this has been such a contentious debate and why it's so difficult to get a deal on health care reform. >> yeah. >> we are also hearing from a lot of viewers on this, aren't we josh? >> big time. the $280 million, keep in mind this is just the beginning. >> exactly. >> you can look at the predictions, but it's a guess what will happen from now until the end of next -- of this year, and then the next year. and then facebook, and then jenny said, i wonder if those who were screaming at the town hall meetings realized the myths that they were upset about were part of the health care debate. and d. weaver said the amount

going to be spent is going to be high, and the question, of course, is whether it is worth it. it depends where you stand on it. and we'll keep tuned for tonight. new orleans at the memorial service forwalter cronkite. we're back in a moment. saved mo? no way. (announcer) the exact same brands sold in pet specialty stores. at walmart's unbeatable price. save money. live better. walmart. the rest of the body is a no brainer. doesn't your whole body deserve excedrin strength relief? excedrin back & body. excedrin. what ache? here you go. whoa! that's some serious insurance. ding-ding-ding! ding! ding! fun fact -- progressive is the number-one truck insurer.

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how good is that? okay. we are waiting to hear from the president. when the president makes his remarks at the memorial service, we will take you back there -- oh, get down, brothers. get down. we will take you back to new york city. the supreme court got a jump-start on its fall term today. justices reheard a case that may lead to a landmark decision on campaign finance laws. here's cnn's elaine quijano. >> who is hillary clinton? >> reporter: it started small, during last year's presidential primaries, a federal court said campaign finance laws barred this ad for an anti-hillary clinton movie by an advocacy group, a nonprofit corporation. >> if you thought you knew everything about hillary

clinton, wait until you see the movie. >> reporter: but now the supreme court could make a monumental change in how money influences politics. deciding in the name of free speech whether there should be any limits at all on corporate campaign spending. >> allowing corporations to flood our elections and use campaign expenditures to buy influence would fundamentally undermine our democracy. >> reporter: fred wertheime rest of democracy 21 warns overturning a century of precedents would shut average citizens out of the political process. >> the little guy would have no role here, because the dominant force in our politics, the dominant force in washington decision making would become corporations. >> reporter: but david bossy of citizens united, the group behind the anti-hillary clinton movie, argues that anyone pooling resources, including

unions, the health industry, advocacy groups like the national rifle association, has free speech rights. >> i actually went out and looked for this fight, because i don't believe that the government's position -- i don't believe the government should have the right to impede people's entry into the process, and that's what the federal election commission is trying to do here, squelch our first amendment rights. >> reporter: interesting the american civil liberties union agrees. a final ruling is expected in a couple of months, and legal observers say conservatives could hold the key with enough votes to possibly declare much of current campaign finance law unconstitutional. elaine quijano, cnn, the supreme court. back to new york city now and the memorial service for walter cronkite, and the president of the united states, barack obama. >> -- and all who consider him a he hero, to the men of the intrepid, to all of you who are gathered here today, i'm honored

to be here to pay tribute to life and times of the man who chronicled our time. i did not know mr. cronkite personally. and my regret is made more acute by the stories that have been shared here today. for that matter did i know him any better than the tens of millions who turned to him each night in search of the answer to a simple question -- what happened today. but like them and like all of you, i have benefitted as a citizen from his dogged pursuit of the truth, his passionate defense of objective reporting, and his view that journalism is more than just a profession. it is a public good, vital to our democracy. even in his early career, walter

cronkite resisted the temptation to get the story first, in favor of getting it right. he wanted to get it first, but he understood the importance of getting it right. during one of his first jobs in kansas city, walter's program manager urged him to go on the air, reporting a massive blaze -- and we just heard how much he loved fires -- a massive blaze at city hall that had already claimed lives. when walter reached for the telephone, his boss asked, what are you doing? get on the air. walter replied that he was calling the fire department to confirm the story. you don't need to confirm it! the manager shouted. my wife's watching the whole thing! needless to say, walter made the call, and even as the program manager took the air himself to broadcast the unfolding tragedy, walt walter discovered that it had been nothing more than a small fire that hadn't resulted in any injuries. he lost his job.

but he got the story right. walter wasn't afraid to rattle the high and the mighty, but he never dared compromise his integrity. he got along with elected officials, even if they were wary of one another's motives. one politician once remarked, walter, my friend, you've got to believe me fully 85% of everything i told you today is the absolute truth. he shared a complicated relationship with presidents of both parties, who wanted him on their side, even as they were convinced that he wasn't. president johnson called walter after the "evening news" from time to time to voice his displeasure over a certain story, but walter knew that if he was receiving vociferous complaints from both sides, he must be doing his job. his endless inquisitiveness

about our world -- i can imagine -- came from a mother who sold encyclopedias for a living. as a boy, walter spent countless hours getting lost within their pages, endlessly sidetracked by new and interesting entries that branched off from one another. fascinated by the world around us and how it worked. and that's the way he lived his life, with curiosity, exploring our planet, seeking to make sense of it and explaining it to others. he went everywhere and he did everything. he raced cars and boats. he traveled everywhere from the amazon to the arctic. he plunged 8,000 feet below the sea, trekked 18,000 feet up into the himalayas, and experienced weightlessness in the upper reaches of our atmosphere, all with one mission -- to make it come alive for the rest of us. and as our world began to change, he helped us understand

those changes. he was forever there, reporting through world war and cold war, marches and milestones, scandal and success, calmly and authoritatively telling us what we needed to know. he was a voice of certainty in a world that was growing more and more uncertain. and through it all, he never lost the integrity or the plainspoken speaking style that he gained growing up in the heartland. he was a familiar and welcome voice that spoke to each and every one of us personally. so, it may have seemed inevitable that he was named the most trusted man in america. but here's the thing. that title wasn't bestowed on him by a network. we weren't told to believe it by some advertising campaign. it was earned.

it was earned by year after year and decade after decade of painstaking effort, a commitment to fundamental values, his belief that the american people were hungry for the truth, unvarnished and uncompanied by theater or spectacle. he didn't believe in dumbing down. he trusted us. when he was told of this extraordinary honor, that he was the most trusted man in america, he naturally downplayed it by saying that people had not polled his wife. when people of both political parties actually tried to recruit him to run for office, without even asking for his stances on the issues, he said no, to the relief of all potential opponents. and when, even a decade and a half after his retirement he still ranked first in seven of

eight categories for television journalists, he was disbelieving that he hadn't won the eighth category, attractiveness! through all the events that came to define the 20th century, through all our moments of deepest hurt and brightest hope, walter cronkite was there, telling the story of the american age. this is how we remember him today, but we also remember and celebrate the journalism that walter practiced. a standard of honesty and integrity and responsibility to which so many of have committed your careers. it's a standard that's a little bit harder to find today. we know that this is a difficult time for journalism, even as appetites for news and

information grow, newsrooms are closing. despite the big stories of our era, serious journalists find themselves all too often without a beat. just as the news cycle has shrunk, so has the bottom line. and too often we fill that void with instant commentary and celebrity gossip and the softer stories that walter disdained rather than the hard news and investigative journalism he championed. what happened today is replaced with who won today. the public debate cheapens. the public trust falters. we fail to understand our world or one another as well as we should. and that has real consequences in our own lives and in the life of our nation. we seem stuck with a choice between what cuts to our bottom

line and what harms us as a society, which price is higher to pay, which cost is harder to bear. this democracy, walter said, cannot function without a reasonably well-informed electorate. that's why the honest, objective, meticulous reporting that so many of you pursue, with the same zeal that walter did, is so vital to our democracy and our society. our future depends on it. and walter was no naive idealist. he understood the challenges and the pressures and the temptations facing journalnism this new era. he believed a media company has an obligation to pursue a profit, but also an obligation to invest a good chunk of that profit back into news and public affairs. he was excited about all the stories that a high-tech world of journalism would be able to

tell and all the new -- newly emerging means with which to tell it. naturally we find ourselves wondering how he would have covered the monumental stories of our time. in an era where the news that city hall is on fire can sweep around the world at the speed of the internet, would he still have called to double-check? would he have been able to cut through the murky noise of the blogs and the tweets and the sound bites to shine the bright light on substance? could he still offer the perspective that we value? would he have been able to remain a singular figure in an age of dwindling attention spans and omnipresent media? and somehow we know that the answer is yes. the simple values walter cronkite set out in pursuit of, to seek the truth, to keep us honest, to explore our world the

best he could, they are as vital today as they ever were. our american story continues. it needs to be told, and if we choose to live up to walter's example, if we realize that the kind of journalism he embodied will not simply rekindle itself as part of a natural cycle but will come alive only if we stand up and demand it and resolve to value it once again, then i'm convinced that the choice between profit and progress is a false one and that the golden days of journalism still lie ahead. walter cronkite invited the nation to believe in him, and he never betrayed that trust. that's why so many of you entered the profession in the first place. that's why the standards he set for journalists still stand, and that's why he loved and valued all of you, but we loved and valued walter. not only as the rarest of men,

but as an indy indy expensible pi pillar of our society. every so often punk waiting the air with a gleeful "oh, boy." we are grateful to him for altering and illuminating our time and for the opportunity he gave to us to say that, yes, we, too, were there. thank you very much. >> president obama at the memorial service in new york city for broadcasting legend walter cronkite. the president now heads back to washington to prepare for his critical speech tonight on health care reform before a joint session of congress. just moments ago the chairman -- the all-powerful chairman -- of the senate finance committee,

max baucus, talking about health care reform. have a listen. >> okay. the time has come for action, and we will act. we must move forward if we're going to get this bill done by the end of the year. i just met with my finance committee colleagues and laid out a path for moving forward. i will put out a chairman's mark early to midnext week. i will move the finance committee forward and i will move the finance committee to mark up health care reform the week after next. this is our moment. we have spent many weeks and months on this crucial issue, and now is the time to move forward. >> senator, will you do it with or without republicans? >> i very much hope, and i expect, there will be some republicans. and i issue the mark next week and when we go to mark up the following week. my door's open.

but irrespective of whether or not any republicans, i do think that there will be, i'm going to move forward anyway. we have to move forward, and i've -- i told chuck grassley that just about an hour ago. i mentioned that to other key senators a short while ago, so we will have a mark. i will put out a mark next week. i very much hope and do expect republicans will be on board. i don't know how many. but if there are not any, i'm going to move forward in any event. >> how close to what you've put -- >> does that mean you have one more week to go before -- >> well, it means there's a -- there's -- it means there's quite a bit of time left for bipartisan support. that is, i very much hope and expect to find some number of republicans, but how many, to be on the mark. but then after the mark, we go to mark up. that's the following week. there's still plenty of time for

any republicans to join at mark up. maybe a senator -- a republican senator might want to offer an amendment in order to support the bill. it's hard to say. but the main point is, it's really twofold, the main point is i'm moving forward. we'll have the mark and the mark up the following week, and i very much look forward to having some republicans participating. >> what do you think you'll be marking up? is the door still open for a public option coming back in? >> i'll probably mutt down a mark that's somewhat similar to the proposal that i issued late saturday night, sunday morning. fairly similar to that, because i think that is close to a measure that will pass both the committee and the senate. i'm not about to put in provisions which i -- which are so problematic that it could not pass the full finance committee for the senate, so the answer is it will be fairly close. there will be some adjustments.

there will be changes. it will be pretty close to what -- >> did you get suggestions this morning by 10:00 from some of the republicans? >> oh, yes. senator enzi submitted proposals. in fact, they all did. all the other five did give me some ideas. we're going through those right now. we're going to meet this afternoon, our group of six, to go over those changes that they've all proposed to us. to the degree in which they work. sorry? >> you've been working for so many months on a bipartisan basis, are you disappointed to say you are coming out that you are moving forward with or without republican consent? >> no, no. i'm not disappointed at all. why? because i know all negotiations you almost have to wait until the last instant before things tend to break. we've all invested so much time and effort in this. i know that several of my republican colleagues very much want to be part of this. they want to be. and they know, and i know,

there's still time. there's still time between now and when we vote on the final bill that's marked up, you know, in a couple of weeks. so, no. it's -- there are a lot of sayings, different languages, different ways of saying it, the last inchness is darkest, whatnot, darkest before the dawn, you know? i do expect some will come on board later. earlier is better than later, but -- >> what are some of the suggestions? >> okay, major developments is there a bit more here? okay, major developments here. you just heard from the chairman of the senate finance committee saying it is time to move forward. we have to move forward. we want to bring in our senior congressional correspondent, dana bash, and it must be said at the outset here that, dana, your reporting, the reporting of brianna keilar and the other members of the best political team there in

washington and the producers on your team and other teams, have been all over this story, bringing us the developments, the proposal, from senator max baucus, and now he is saying, look, the time window is too short, if we want to get this done, it is time to move forward now. and it looks like that's exactly what's going to happen. >> reporter: that's right. with or without republicans. and that really is the key. and that's a question -- >> yes. >> reporter: -- that i asked him, because he wasn't entirely clear when he came out, but he certainly was in response to the question, you know, that he has been working for months -- months and months -- behind those doors, tony, were republicans with the group of six senators, three republicans, three democrats, to get a bipartisan deal. he was hoping that the fruition of that would be an announcement that he had a deal. that has not happened. and he has made clear he does hope to get republicans ultimately, but he's not banking on it. and so the idea is that he's going to take the 18-page proposal that we talked about, that he has given to every

member of this committee, and he is going to work it -- work on it and make it a bill. he's going to do that next week or the week after that. he's going to move forward with a -- with a vote on this committee. you know, it's very interesting. he downplayed the idea that this is a failure in terms of bipartisanship. >> yes, yes. >> reporter: but the reality is -- and we've been talking about this for days, even weeks, now -- from the white house where this is by far the most important thing to the president's term right now, getting this health care bill through, they frankly have given up on the idea -- >> yes. >> reporter: -- of getting at least two of those republicans that he's been working with on board. that's why they made very clear to the chairman, you got to move on. that was made clear to the democratic leadership as well. >> dana, what about the reaction? i'm just trying to imagine it -- >> reporter: yes. >> -- in my own head from senator enzi, senator snowe, senator grassley, there was another meeting of this full committee coming together this afternoon, isn't there? >> reporter: there.

and that me it will happen at 3:30 this afternoon. i got a quote from charles grassley that certainly the announcement will change the dynamic in that meeting significant this afternoon. >> yes. >> reporter: but max baucus did call his republican counterpart and give him a heads up on this, but it will be quite interesting -- >> yes. >> reporter: -- to see their reaction, particularly -- particularly, tony -- because there's one republican that is most important in terms of the bipartisan deal. that is olympia snowe. she told our ted barrett that she does not want to it be rushed. she does think it's possible to keep moving and keep talking. see, there is a risk of alienating her in doing this and we want to try to talk to her and -- >> appreciate. i know you'll be talking to kyra in a few minutes.